A Puzzle to Remember
by azarathangel
Summary: HIATUS When one Titan is suddenly yanked away from the living, the body dissapears in the events of the night and the storm. Upon being summoned back to the cliff top where their friend died by the murderer, the first piece to the puzzle is discovered.


Wee, new little one-shot. Kinda weird, just some fun while I wait for my friend to send chapter six of lost in the storm back. Gonna be awhile till that gets up sorry guys. And a super special "thanks" to bobalina for all her "constructive" criticism. But really, thanks for all ur sarcastic comments and weird drawings of robin and slade…

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Silent as the night was the beautiful girl in front of him. He knew she sensed him though she showed no sign of it. Her knees were hugged tightly to her chest and the piercing, deep eyes he had come to know so well throughout the years were locked in a staring contest with the speckled sky. An almost inaudible sniff came from the dark figure at the roof's edge, breaking the heavy silence.

"Raven?" The masked boy ventured. His answer was silence. Robin mentally sighed and he moved to sit beside his best friend. "Raven, are you okay?" Robin reached out an ungloved hand to her, but a black barrier prevented his soft touch from reaching the dark girl. He quickly withdrew his hand from the shadowy maiden. This was the first time she had ever pushed him away, and it stung. A lot. The others had turned away from him at one time or another, so why was it so different when it was Raven? Robin quickly dismissed the thought as another sniffle interrupted his thoughts.

The wall between the two dissipated into the cold night air around them and the black bird now sat exposed to Robin's masked eyes. Her hood was down, face shadowed only by memories and the overcast night. Robin was surprised to see unshed tears in Raven's eyes. Angry eyes, to be exact. A deep scowl sat upon her face and the sky began to swallow up the last of its remaining stars into the dark clouds, keeping its purity away from the glare that threatened to darken the sky permanently.

"Raven," Robin reached out to her again, and this time nothing stopped him from reaching the mystic's cheek. "We're all upset, but you shouldn't pin this on yourself. It was none of our faults." Robin spoke gently but a hard tone was his response.

"Yeah right." Raven turned her head from him and reach to swat Robin away from her face. The boy wonder caught the delicate hand in his. "Just leave me alone." Raven's hard voice cracked slightly as she abruptly stood. Alarmed at her sudden change of mood, Robin sprang up and spun Raven to face him.

A lone teardrop sparkled in the last rays of moonlight as it slid down the cloaked girl's cheek. Large amethyst eyes looked at him, no longer hard and angry. All Robin saw was a single shattered soul in front of him that needed comfort, whether she wanted it or not.

"Oh Rae…" Robin murmured, shaking his head slowly. A choked sob escaped her as another tear fell from her violet eyes. In one fluid movement the ebony haired boy had stepped forward and taken Raven into his arms. Her body shuddered as she let the floodgates open and hot tears ran freely from her.

"It's all my fault Robin. He died because of me! Why couldn't I have been the one to get hit? Why'd he have to die…" Raven sobbed into his chest. A drop splashed onto Raven's head as Robin realized that he, too, was crying. The first tear he had shed in a long time. Robin held the dark beauty closer to him as she tightened her grip around his chest while the city lights flashed brightly on the mainland, oblivious to the dark state the tower had fallen into. A single room stood lit on the island surrounded by their friend's grave and the memories of an untimely death.

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Robin and Raven walked through the dark halls in silence. They had been driven inside by the icy rain that now fell in sheets outside. Thunder shook the tower and shadows danced on the walls as the ever-present lightning crackled through the choked skies. Robin took a sideways glance at the girl beside him. Raven was staring straight ahead, cheeks tear streaked and eyes red. Her cloak hung about her shoulders in a soggy mess. Robin felt a foreign emotion as he gazed down at her. 'She's so beautiful…' Robin thought as he let his mind wander. An odd joy began to peek through his underlying sadness in the presence of the dark beauty. Robin looked down at his uniform shirt where Raven had just been. He could still smell her lavender scent as he saw himself holding her in the rain, breathing in the essence that was Raven. Robin found he wanted her back in his arms. Unfamiliar feelings coursed through him when Raven suddenly looked at him.

"Thank you." She whispered, gracing him with a small, tearful half smile. Robin felt elated. Raven rarely smiled, and even if it was only half of one, Robin had been the person to see it. And that smile was his alone, something he didn't have to share with the others. Selfish as it sounded, Robin couldn't help but think it every time she smiled at him.

'Anything for you Raven.' Aloud he replied "Anytime, Raven. Anytime." Robin smiled back. By that point the two had reached the living room. Beside him, Raven took a deep breath and prepared herself for the opening of the door where the remaining titans were sitting, and no doubt crying.

Robin stepped forward and the mechanical doors slid open. Starfire was pacing back and forth behind the couch and the damp carpet below her showed the path she had been treading for the past few hours. The redhead looked up from her hands at the hiss of the metal door. Another wail escaped her gaping mouth as she ran forward and fell onto Robin.

"Oh Robin I am of the utmost despairing! I have tried the Pudding of Happiness, Joy, Laughter, and Drunkenness. But the ache in my heart is still there." Starfire bawled. Robin awkwardly patted her back, saying words of comfort. He chanced a glance at Raven who was still beside him. She gave Robin a strange look before turning on her heel and stalking into the kitchen. Robin's eyes followed her. The girl took a quick look back to the scene she had just left. Robin was staring after her, an odd expression registering on his face. To Raven, it looked like an emotion of longing and sorrow, as well as a tinge of annoyance.

'What's that face supposed to mean?' She wondered.

'What's that face supposed to mean?' Robin thought as Raven watched him. Her face was confused as she watched him intently. 'What could she be trying to figure out?' Robin quickly excused himself and hurried after Raven into the kitchen, leaving Starfire with dangling arms and a streaming face. "Raven what's wrong?" Robin questioned while walking up behind her.

"What do you think Robin? We just lost a teammate and a friend incase you haven't noticed. I'm **_upset_**." Raven snapped, knuckles turning white as she gripped the countertop. Robin took a step closer.

"There's something else, Raven. We have a bond, remember?" Robin said softly. He placed a hand on her thin shoulder. This time she didn't brush it away. Robin's hand rose and fell with her as she sighed deeply.

"The little things are getting to me. I just miss him so much." Raven's voice was soft, delicate, and full of longing. "He was the brother I never had. Sure, he got annoying, and the tofu-meat arguments made me want to murder him with a frying pan," Robin smiled a little as he remembered her evil tofu and meat minions attacking Beast Boy and Cyborg when their spat had turned to spatula sparring. "But he always had a joke to try and make us laugh, someone to play videogames with you and Beast Boy, and all sorts of things." Raven shivered under her icy cloak. "I'm going to miss working on his car with him." Raven attempted a small laugh but all she got was a choked sob. "I really miss him." Her voice was strained as she turned around. "So much." A curtain of lavender hair shielded her face. Robin raised her chin up and cupped her cheeks, wiping some tears away with his thumbs.

"It's going to be okay Raven." He said. "it's going to be okay." Robin lightly kissed her forehead, surprising not only her but himself as well. A light blush crept onto Raven's face before Robin took hold of her hand. "Let's get back to the others." Robin led Raven back out into the living room.

Beast Boy was sitting on the couch. The TV was on and a game was displayed on the screen. Two controllers were connected from the game station, one in Beast Boy's hands and the other sitting in a shallow depression on the couch where one boy used to sit and play with his best friends. Beast Boy had a sad smile as he looked to the two in the kitchen doorway. A large tear feel from his large emerald eyes. "It was his favorite game." Another salty drop fell. Robin felt the warmth of Raven's hand slip away from his as she walked to her favorite chair and curled up in it. Robin followed and Starfire joined him, sitting on the couch. There was a large space left between Beast Boy and Starfire, about big enough to fit a cyborg. Raven lifted her head slightly from its position on her knees and looked at her remaining teammates.

"Remember when…" The next hour was spent exchanging memories of their departed friend. Funny ones, serious ones, or just plain weird ones, courtesy of Beast Boy. The titans slowly moved into a slightly more cheerful mood as they laughed over memories of Cyborg.

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His laughter ceased as Robin wiped his eyes. "Okay guys, it's late, time to lock up." Robin walked out past the security pad before stopping and going back to it. "Cyborg always did this…" he murmured. Reality came crashing back down around their ears.

"Goodnight." Raven said before darting out into the hall and to her room.

"Yeah, g'nite." Beast Boy trudged out the hissing doors.

"P-p-pleasant schlorvax…" Starfire floated dismally out the door.

"Sleep well Star." Robin said before pressing his hand to the memory pad. He left the dark room and slowly began walking back to his own room. Betrayed by his feet, however, Robin found himself walking straight past his door to the one beside his. Three soft knocks echoed in the empty hallway before it opened.

"Yes Robin?" Raven stood at her door.

"Sleep well Rae." Robin gave her a relaxed smile.

"You too, Robin." Raven's eyes smiled back at him. "And thank you." The door slid closed as Robin walked back down the hall into his messy room. Preferring the soft fabric of his pajamas rather than his uniform that was his second skin, Robin slid under the covers. The other three were doing the same back in their own beds.

"Goodnight, Cyborg." The same words escaped the lips of the last four titans as they all slipped into an uneasy slumber.

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The smell of bacon wafted under Starfire's door as she opened her normally bright green eyes. The usual pep was gone from her step as she dragged herself out of her room and down to the kitchen. An unlikely scene met her sight when she stepped into the large room.

"Friend Beast Boy?" Starfire wondered in a rather surprised tone. "Are you the o of k in the head?" Indeed it seemed Beast Boy was a little off that morning. A piece of bacon flipped through the air and landed in a pan held by none other than the tofu king himself. Beast Boy glanced up at the incredulous alien in the doorway before holding out the pan.

"Bacon?" He asked wearily. Starfire stared at him strangely before nodding and moving to sit at the table. Beast Boy slid a few slices of bacon next to buttered toast and set the plate as well as a bottle of mustard in front of the redhead.

"Thank you." She spoke quietly. The green boy gave a short nod and returned to the stove. Starfire lifted the bottle to her lips and took a large gulp. Robin appeared over the rim of her drink and she set it down again. "Good morning to you Robin."

"Hey Star." Robin was still in his pajamas and his hair was messy and ungelled. Raven entered shortly after, wearing not her leotard and cloak but a pair of baggy black pajama pants and a while spaghetti-strap tank top. She mumbled a greeting to her friends and moved to the counter to pour herself a glass of milk.

'It seems none of us are the usual us.' Starfire pondered. 'Beast Boy has made the meat bacon, Robin is not of the readiness, nor is friend Raven, and Raven is not having her herb tea. I only wish friend Cyborg was here to make us all laugh…' Starfire wiped her eyes and looked around the now occupied table. Across from her, Robin was picking at his food. Raven was slumped down in the chair next to him staring into her drink. Beside her, Beast Boy slid down into the chair and began nibbling at the dry toast on his plate. The depressed redhead lowered her gaze back to her untouched plate. The four sat in silence for a time, the only noises being the crunch of toast, clatter of fork on plate, and occasional slurp of mustard. Soon the noise ceased and the titans finished eating, or lost interest in pretending to. Mostly the latter. Simultaneously, they all turned their heads to the empty seat by Raven. And the room flashed red.

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Four sets of eyes slowly turned to the giant screen. A mask none of them ever wanted to see again stared back. The mask of a murderer, voice chilling as ever.

"Oh I'm sorry." His tone was full of mock remorse. "Did I call at a bad time?" Raven was the first to react. She strode over to the screen and crossed her arms as she stood in front of the glass.

"What do you want?" Raven growled.

"I wanted to invite you to a little, get together I'm having." He said delicately.

"Why?"

"Just, for fun… Besides, I think I have something you might want." A robotic hand flashed across the screen before the masked man returned to the camera. A loud cry erupted from Raven.

"You sick son of a b-!" She was quickly cut off.

"7:00, Bay Cliff, be there." His face flickered for a second before the screen went black. Raven shook with rage as she stared at the screen, black magic beginning to crackle in the air around her. The magic encased the helpless computer screen as it exploded in a shower of glass around Raven. Sinking to her knees among the shards of screen, Raven slammed her fists into the ground.

"Why does he have to do this to us…?" Raven whispered into the glass covered carpet. Robin leapt up from where he had been frozen at the table and ran over to Raven. He took her hands gently in his and began to picking the glass from the open wounds.

"Shh, calm down Rae. We'll get him back." Robin tried to comfort the girl as he kneeled beside her on the floor, but she didn't want to hear it.

"He probably just has the hand anyways. Just to lure us out there so he can finish the job." She choked out. "We're not going to play his sick little game though." Raven's voice hardened as she applied more pressure to her bloody hand. "Be ready in an hour. We're going to be early." And with that, Raven stood and left the room.

"Friend Raven is taking the death of Cyborg most hard, correct?" Starfire commented. Robin gave her a hard look before rising from the floor.

"You don't know the half of it…" Robin muttered as he left the room in pursuit of his dark friend. Indeed, only he, Raven, and Slade knew exactly how and why Cyborg died. Starfire and Beast Boy had been too busy battling the battalion of robots at the bottom on the slope.

It started out as a clear sunny day, and the once five some were playing volleyball on the roof, save Raven who decided to meditate, more out of habit than necessity. Trigon was long gone. There was an anonymous call reporting some sort of disturbance at a church picnic on the cliff overlooking the bay outside the city. Being the Teen Titans, they had answered the cry for help. The slope up to the cliff's edge, though, was deserted when the team arrived as well as the top. Raven and Starfire flew to the cliff top to get a better view of the seemingly vacant scene. That's when the trouble had begun…

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"Do you see anything?" Robin shouted out to the girls. Raven took another glance around her.

"Nothing!" Starfire called down to Robin.

"Must have been a prank call. Let's head home." Cyborg spoke up. Tameranian and Azarathian began their descent back to the bottom when Raven suddenly stopped. Amethyst eyes narrowed and she flew back to the top of cliff and out of sight over the edge facing the bay. Starfire landed by Robin.

"Raven what are you doing?" Robin jogged up the steep incline and reached about halfway when a gunshot sounded.

Before, Raven had flown down to the rock face to investigate. She and Starfire had heard a noise there but had earlier dismissed it. But when they had begun returning from their search of the slope, the sharp eye of the half-demon has seen a large footprint in one of the many sand patches by the rocks. Raven followed the direction of it to another one in the ground a ways off. Ultimately she came to the cliff's edge where she went down only to meet the eyes of a Slade-bot positioned in a hole in the rock, laser in hand.

A blue blur flew over the precipice towards Robin. Raven landed in the sand in front of him and used her momentum to kick the robot back over her head. She spat out a mouthful of coppery-tasting blood as Robin helped her up.

"Ambush!" Raven pointed back to the other titans. A troop of Slade-bots had slowly been making their way up to their unwary prey. Upon being acknowledged, they abandoned their stealth and leapt at the titans. Raven ran in to help with the battle but Robin hesitated a bit. Slade-bots meant Slade, right? Robin whipped out his Bo staff and swung it behind his head just in time for the sound of metal on metal to ring out.

"Slade." Robin sneered. A chuckle sounded from the villain behind him.

"Very good Robin." Slade's voice slid into Robin's ears and filled him with rage as Slade always did. "But if you'll excuse me, I have better birds to fry." A punch to the back of his head made Robin's ears ring as he stumbled forward. Shaking his head to clear his vision, Robin ran down the slope after the now airborne Slade.

"Raven left!" Robin commanded. Raven's back was turned to him but she quickly darted to the left, barely avoiding a drop kick from Slade and a blow from a robot on her right. Cyborg blasted Slade in the chest and was sent spinning back to a waiting Robin. One roundhouse and Slade switched flight patterns and crashed right into a new force of advancing robots, sending them flying in all directions. These new robots flipped back up onto their feet and ran at Robin. He thrust his staff through the metal chest of one and leapt up onto it while two robots dove into each other where he had just been. Leaping off his weapon, Robin fell upon a robot with a pair of bird-a-rangs in each hand. A quick jerk of his arm was all it took to send another flying, machinery spilling out of its open chest as it disappeared over the edge. The remaining robots had reassembled and were now in a circle around him and steadily advancing towards him. His staff was still imbedded in the body of the first to fall. Robin pulled on it but the metal would not budge from its resting place. Thinking fast, Robin held his staff tight with both hands and took a running leap. The robots fell away from him as Robin ran in circles with the robots as his footing and using his Bo staff as an anchor to his airborne body.

Robin neatly dismounted from his attack and surveyed the scene below him. The titans were faring well; bodies of androids littered the grass and oil leaked into the ground like blood. Beast Boy quickly sent a large batch of metal men into the water with a hit of his tail. The t-rex morphed into a bear and even more robots fell to the ground. The oil that seeped from the mangled metal limbs of the army coated the green boy from head to toe. With a loud roar, he charged back into the masses, clawing and biting his way to the center where Starfire was incapacitating robots left and right.

Cyborg and Raven were having more trouble. Slade kept getting into the battle, distracting them from laser armed robots and vice versa. Currently, Cyborg was fighting Slade while Raven tried to keep the Slade-bots at bay, but there were many of them and the dark sorceress was struggling. One robot's laser finally broke through her defenses and Raven fell to the ground. The grounded mystic kicked the legs out from under an advancing robot before leaping up and continuing the battle. Robin's eyes traveled back to Cyborg and Slade. Cyborg was trying to keep himself between Raven and the villain and was so far successful. But Slade could only be deterred for so long.

He ran at Cyborg full speed, dodging cannon shots and the like. Nearing Cyborg, Slade leapt into the air and neatly flipped and pushed off Cyborg's broad shoulders to gain extra power and speed. Robin decided it was time to step in.

"Don't touch her!" Robin's voice came out in a loud and menacing tone as he flung a bird-a-rang at Slade. Startled by the blow, Slade twisted in midair and fell short of his target. Raven took the chance to gather a mass of the fallen robots and slam them onto Slade. The pile of bodies incarcerating Slade began to shift. Black magic threw more onto the heap, weighing it down even more as Cyborg blasted robots from Raven's turned back. Raven stopped adding to the large makeshift prison and turned to the few androids left and threw them back down into another battalion advancing on Starfire and Beast Boy. Turning back to the prison, Raven began twisting arms and legs into a mangled dome of metal which Cyborg welded together. The two stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"Boo-ya! I'd like to see him get out of that!" Cyborg punched the air with a smug smile.

"Not bad." Raven commented, a small grin twitching its way onto her face.

"But just to make sure…" A smirk made its way onto Robin's face as he pulled an electric disk out. "This outa put him down for a few hours." Robin jumped up onto the structure and searched for an opening. He finally found a tiny hold towards the top and peered in. Slade was standing calmly in the middle of the newly-formed cage with his hands clasped behind his back. More electric disks made their way into Robin's hand. 'This should cut you down to size…' he thought. One by one Robin dropped the disks in. The first one bounced once, twice on the ground. Robin leapt into the air and landed on the waiting platform Raven had made just as a shout erupted from the dome.

Sparks shook the metal dome and electricity leapt into the air. Robin felt the hair on his arms and neck prickle, but it wasn't from the structure ten feet below him. Robin looked up to the sky. It was dark now; he hadn't even noticed the preparing storm. Thunder crashed and Robin's hair stood on end. More electricity sparked under him and the air around tingled with static. Lightning was coming straight at the dome, straight to Slade, but straight to him.

"Raven!" His voice was lost to the storm as another echo of thunder ripped through the sky. A white light flashed above him and the temperature rapidly climbed. Yellow light rose below him and he felt the two forces begin to come together.

Hot pain ran through Robin's side as he flew off the platform and onto the grass. Robin felt the weight on his chest disappear and Raven rolled onto the ground beside him.

"Most people stay away from lightning instead of introducing it to a sparking metal dome." Raven's voice was flat but her eyes were fierce. Robin's response was interrupted by more shouts from the dome. The lightening struck the dome from all sides and the metal was starting to lose its shape and melt. "He's going to die." Raven whispered.

"After all he put us through and this is all he gets?" Robin frowned. "Some death. If he dies he better count himself lucky it wasn't up to us." Raven gave an exasperated sigh. "What?" The response was automatic.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Raven coughed out what sounded like "obsessed" but Robin didn't comment. After all, the shadowy girl had just saved his life. Robin stood and extended a hand to Raven. After some hesitation, she took it. Forgetting how light she was, Robin pulled harder than necessary. Raven flew into the air and landed no more than a few inches from Robin. A light blush crept onto the pale girl's face as she looked up into Robin's mask.

"Thanks for saving my life." Robin whispered, not letting go of her hand.

"You're welcome." Raven's voice was uncharacteristically soft. "And thank you for saving mine."

"What did I do?"

"When you hit Slade with that bird-a-rang, no telling what he was planning to do tonight." Raven began to pull away from Robin. He was looking at her with a care and compassion that she had never seen before, and Raven didn't like not knowing what it was or why. Robin gently pulled her back by the hand he still held, and Raven's common sense lost to whatever emotion was dominant at that moment. Robin stared at her face as lightning reflected in her deep eyes, making them more beautiful than ever before.

"Are you okay Robin? I've never seen you act this way before." Not that Raven didn't like the attention. Her emotions were loving it. Raven had always held a special place in her heart for the boy wonder; maybe that something special was finally becoming something more.

"Alright lovebirds break it up Starfire and Beast Boy are still dealing with some stragglers." Cyborg jerked his thumb back to the bottom of the hill. Blushing heavily, Robin and Raven broke apart from each other.

"Let's go." Raven took another look at the smoldering heap of sparking metal. 'I wonder if he's still alive…' Raven ran to catch up with the boys.

"I will not be defeated!" A loud cry erupted from below them as Slade ran at Raven with flaming eyes. Her reaction time was nil as Slade tackled her around the middle and flipped her up the hill where she scraped across rocks and sand. Slade ran at her again and Raven was met with a punch to the face as Slade tossed her uphill again. The girl landed with her back to the villain and she shakily rose up on her hands and knees as blood dripped from her lip. Slade picked Raven up by her hood and pitched her towards the edge of the precipice.

Raven landed with a cry of surprise and rolled off the edge. Her hand caught the rock just in time. Glancing down at the water below her, Raven swung her other hand up and grabbed the cliff while trying to pull herself back up to the grass. Slade took three large steps to the edge and removed a gun from his belt.

"We're playing a whole different game now." He hissed. Raven's eyes widened and her breath quickened.

'Azarath Metrion Zinthos!' Raven tried to fly, blast Slade, anything! But she couldn't concentrate enough to focus on anything but keeping her grip on the ledge and the endless black of the barrel of the gun.

Robin hit a robot aside as he and Cyborg fought their way through the wall of black and orange metal. Another robot fell to the side and Robin dove through the opening to find Slade pointing a gun down at the cliff's edge.

'Raven…' Robin realized with horror. A new energy coursed through his veins as Robin pushed his burning muscled up the steep incline. Cyborg gave a loud shout behind him and he, too, was through. Slade's dark form grew closer to them as the Titans continued to run up the hill. Five strides away from the armed villain, Cyborg surged past the tired boy wonder.

"No one can save you now." Slade cocked the gun and slowly pulled the trigger.

"Yarrgh!" Cyborg threw himself at Slade while Robin pushed off Cyborg's back and grabbed Slade's neck. Raven felt hot metal graze her cheek as the sound of the gun rattled her ears. A heavy step fell on her fingers as the gun fell from Slade's grasp to the ground, and her bruised fingers fell away from the ledge. Slade was thrashing around and Robin was flying in circles around him but still keeping a hold on Slade's neck. Cyborg was being dragged through the dirt in a weak attempt to anchor Slade. Raven stretched her free hand back up to try and reestablish her grip but she couldn't reach. She could feel herself slipping from the rock as the earth shook with thunder. Lightning flashed off Slade's armor and Robin was thrown from around his neck and onto the ground where he landed with a loud thud. Slade grabbed the gun from the grass and turned it to Robin's struggling form but he missed again as Cyborg hit his wrist. "Get away from them." Cyborg grunted as he tried to wrestle the gun away.

"Get off!" Slade punched Cyborg's face but the half-metal man would not release him. Raven thought she heard another gunshot but it was only thunder. The sky flashed and the swollen clouds released the cold rain.

"Robin!" Raven cried out as she slipped even further. Now she was holding on by her fingertips with no one to help her. Rain continued to fall as the grass grew wetter and wetter. Robin was lying on his side in the sand while Starfire and Beast Boy battled the infinite army of robots. Lightning glittered off of the metal barrel of the gun as Cyborg and Slade continued to fight for it. "Robin!" Her voice was drowned out as another clap of thunder shook the cliff and her hand finally fell from the slick grass on the ledge.

No scream escaped her lips, rather a name. Robin. Why she had chosen to call for him in her time of peril, she did not know. Robin was lying unconscious on the ground somewhere and was certainly the least capable of action at the moment, but it was instinct. Robin. It hadn't even been a scream. One whispered name. And she fell.

Suddenly a strong hand grabbed her wrist and she was jerked up in the air. A smiling masked wonder looked down at her. Raven turned her hand in his and tightly held onto his arm as Robin pulled her back up to safer grounds. Well, safer than dangling off a cliff.

"You thought I wasn't going to save you."

"I thought you were unconscious." Raven meant to be harsh in her reply but it came out soft and almost worried. His grasp slid from her wrist to her hand.

"I will always catch you, Rae. All you need to do is call my name." Robin couldn't see it through the dark rains, but Raven was smiling. A genuine smile.

"Two birds with one stone. Today must be my lucky day." A low chortle cut through the pounding rain. A shock ran through the two titans bodies and they fell to the slick ground. Robin struggled against the numbness in his body and lifted his head to look up at Slade. Beside him, Raven was doing the same, though instead of Slade she was staring at the ever-battling Cyborg. He was desperately clawing his way through the throngs of robots that blocked his path to the disabled birds. Two more Slade-bots stepped into view, each holding a sparking tool that struck a nerve in Robin. They looked familiar, those tools… very familiar…

"These?" Slade noticed Robin's confusion. "I simply stole them from Dr. Chang. You two have met, I presume?" Robin glared at Slade when he brought up the still sensitive subject of Red X. Slade chuckled and snapped his fingers. Another robot who was standing by with the two holding Chang's inventions stepped forward. It dropped an object into Slade's hands and returned to its position with the other two. "Amazing things, these are. So simple, ye they strike fear into the hearts of all people. Guns really do bring out the fun in everything, don't they?" Lightning flashed and the image of a fully loaded semiautomatic became clear to the intended targets lying on the ground. "Well then, I guess this is goodbye. It really is so hard to stay in touch when you're six feet under." A loud explosion, and the bullets were released from their casings.

"Robin."

"Raven."

Each uttered the others name simultaneously as the first round peppered the ground around them, sending dirt and sand into the air. Raven gave a loud cry as one bullet embedded itself in her arm. And then the shots ceased.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Slade spoke softly. "Not even an inch in diameter. How do you think it feels to have dozens of those inside you? To fell them rip through flesh and bone and to see hot blood ooze from you veins and cover the ground around you?" Slade spoke with a perverse joy as he watched the blood trickle from beneath Raven's had as she tried to plug the wound. Robin reached towards her. "Don't move." Slade loaded another round. "Or I'll shoot her."

"Aren't you going to kills us anyway?" Robin's voice was hollow.

"Yes. And this time, I won't miss." A light blue blur flew in front of them just as Slade pulled the trigger.

"Cyborg!" Raven screamed. The half metal man jerked every which way as Slade drove even more of the lead bullets into him. Cyborg was pushed backwards past Robin and Raven towards the edge of the cliff and bullets continued to fly over their heads into their friend. When the click of an empty round sounded, Robin looked back to the still standing Cyborg. He heard Raven gasp beside him, and he immediately wished he hadn't.

Blood fell from Cyborg's open mouth. His facial features were hardly recognizable. Bullet holes littered his face and blood seeped from the wounds around the twisted flesh and dented metal. The rest of him wasn't any better. The weapon had ripped through the metal in some places and the open circuitry sparked while oil spewed out of him. A gust of wind blew through the rain and the teetering metal man fell.

Robin leapt to his feet and charged at Slade, Bo staff in one hand and bird-a-rang in the other. "Slade!" Robin's voice was full of loathing and Slade looked a bit frightened at the charging teenager as he fumbled with the next round.

He never got it loaded.

Robin was on him in an instant, kicking, hitting, and slashing. The gun fell to the floor with a thud while Raven stared at the spot where her friend once stood. She was in a state of shock. How could Cyborg be gone? He was, Cyborg! She needed him, the whole team needed him. And he was, gone… Raven couldn't bring herself to say he was dead, but he was gone. Slade had gone after her, and Cyborg had ended up dead.

"My fault…" Raven whispered with realization. It was too much for the teenager. She fainted.

Robin's anger was still in high gear. Slade didn't have a chance to fight back. The attacks just kept coming. Sheer luck enabled him to finally kick Robin back onto the ground.

"Until next time." Slade disappeared in a cloud of grey smoke. As quickly as it had come, Robin's anger faded and was replaced with utter despair. His thoughts turned to Cyborg and Raven. There was nothing to be done about Cyborg, he was gone. But Raven…

"Raven, your arm!" Robin ran back up to where Raven lay unconscious in the grass. Blood still fell from her injured arm. Robin gently pushed the wet hair from her face and gazed down at her. "Time to go home." Robin tore his sleeve away from his uniform and tied it around the open wound. He stood back up with Raven in his arms and carried her down to where Starfire and Beast Boy had finished off the last robot to break the news to them. Cyborg was dead.

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All he left was a puddle of blood and oil in the grass. Their friend's body had fallen back over the precipice into the bay and hadn't been seen until Slade had invited them back to where he died with the bait as Cyborg's hand.

Robin reached Raven's room just as the door began to slide shut. He caught it with his foot and the door opened again to reveal Raven's room and his target of pursuit, Raven. Stepping into the room, Robin heard the door shut behind him and he jumped into a string of words.

"Raven, don't rush into this so recklessly! I know what it's like to want, to NEED Slade dead! It makes you do things and make decisions you wouldn't normally make! And the consequences suck! Just think over this Raven! He wants you dead and you're about to run right to him." All leadership had left Robin. He wasn't ordering Raven to do anything. He was pleading. And she knew it.

"Why do you care so much?" Raven was surprisingly calm after Robin's little outburst. "You could just order me to not do something as a leader. But you're begging. This isn't like you, Robin."

"Because I don't like forcing people into things they don't want. You'd go anyways, even if I did order you!"

"That's crap Robin. You order Starfire and Beast Boy around all the time. Being bossy is part of you. Why do you act so different around me?" Raven's voice went up a notch.

"I do not treat you differently! You're just like everyone else!" Robin couldn't help feeling a bit insulted at Raven's jab at his bossy qualities. But he didn't bring it back up to avoid arguing even more.

"So that's all I am. Another face in the crowd." Raven stated.

"That's not what I meant Raven." Robin felt like screaming in frustration.

"Then what Robin. What?" Robin opened and closed his mouth. What was there to say? She saw through lies and picked the truth to pieces. Robin didn't even know what the truth _was_ at that moment. She had him stumped.

"I don't know, Raven." Robin tore away from her steady gaze. "I just don't know. You're so different from everyone I've ever met. I can read people, but with you, it's like running into a brick wall." Robin's frustration was gone. "You're always so closed up and defensive."

"That's who I am, Robin. I've been like that all my life. You know that, Starfire does, even Beast Boy. You know how hard it is for me to open up." Raven fell into a monotone and then Robin knew it was hard for her to say this, even to him. "Why can't you just understand, Robin?"

"You think I haven't tried?" Robin sighed deeply. "I want to know you Raven. I want to understand! But it's so hard. You're a closed book that won't open, no matter how hard I try."

"Then stop trying so hard." Her voice was hushed, as if telling him a secret meant only for him. "Some books weren't meant to be opened, but if you just give it time, then maybe you'll realize all you ever needed to see was the open lock." There was wisdom in Raven's voice. Robin watched her for a few seconds. An open lock. Raven had always been a labyrinth of mysteries, but how could he find an open lock in his Fort Knox?

Raven watched him with pity and amusement. He looked so cute just standing there, trying to figure it out. Raven wanted to let him in, to tell him everything, but she couldn't. A part of her said it wasn't time yet, but that the time was soon. 'Someday, Robin. Someday, you'll see.' She thought.

Her eyes flickered for a second and Robin understood. He needed to give it time. There was an open lock, but it was hidden beyond walls of anger, torment, and sadness. But Robin was determined to knock the walls down, however many there were.

'But why?' A little voice asked him.

'For her. She needs someone.' The boy wonder replied.

'Why you though? Why not Beast Boy or Aqualad?' Robin felt a small surge of jealousy course through him at the idea of Raven with either of those two. Or any boy, for that matter. But why? 'Guess, you idiot.' Damn he hated that voice. 'You're falling for her, fool!' And with that revelation, the voice fell silent.

'For her?' Robin turned his masked eyes to Raven's deep violet ones. Of course. "For her."

"What?" Robin didn't realize he had spoken his last words aloud.

"Nothing Raven." Robin gave her an easy smile and Raven's heart soared. He understood. Robin noticed a light smile play about Raven's lips as she looked at him with soft eyes. Resisting the urge to kiss her smiling face, Robin gave her one last smile and he ducked out of the room to his own.

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"Alright Titans. Here's the plan. Raven and Starfire try to find, or make if you have to, hidden crevices in the rocks to the right of the base of the cliff's incline. Beast Boy, hide in the sand as whatever on the incline. I'll take the rock pile on the left. Clear?" Robin spoke into his communicator as Raven set him on the ground by the path leading up to the Bay Cliff area. Muffled responses of "Indeed" and "Aye aye captain" crackled on the compact. Robin nodded to Raven and they began jogging up the path. It was a cool morning with plenty of clouds in the sky. Their breath came in puffs of fog as the path leveled out a bit. The birds split from each other when they entered the clearing at the base of the cliff. Robin to the left, Raven to the right. "Good luck." He whispered into her ear as they parted.

Robin's hot breath brought goose bumps to Raven as he breathed parting words onto her neck. She shivered under her cloak and continued to the rocky landscape. The boulders had formed many small holes between them and it didn't take long for Raven to find a small cave-like nook where she could sit, watch, and wait. Across from her Robin had also found a spot to wait the day out.

Starfire arrived a half-hour later and camped out in the rocks closer to the path that led to the clearing. Later still, Beast Boy flew in from the bay and scurried down into a sand patch. His little mouse whiskers twitched in the cold air as the assembled Titans waited for their time.

No more than an hour after Beast Boy arrived did the robots start to march in. Line after line, they came from all around and me in the center of the clearing. All but a handful then turned with military precision and marched back out to the trees, the robot on the end of each line dropping small mines on the ground as they left the clearing.

Raven's communicator vibrated in her hand and she flipped it open to reveal a message.

_Did u get that? –rob_

_Ya no slade so far –rae_

_Spoke too soon_

Indeed she had. True to Robin's response, there, in the middle of the mine field with a handful of Slade-bots, was the madman himself. Raven backed up as far as she could in her hiding place and pressed up against the wall. Slade was pointing right at her. Whether it was her he saw, she never found out. Slade was talking to the robots about something, presumably the landmines. Then why was he pointing at her? Slade nodded to one of the bots with him and it gave him a small remote. The masked villain lazily clicked a button as he pointed it at her hiding place. A faint beeping noise reached Raven's sharp ears and she frowned a bit. What was that…

_Get out now! Landmine on top ur spot!_

Raven read his note in growing horror. So **that** was the click she heard when the swarm of robots had passed her.

_Cant only opening towards slade_

Robin was desperate as he looked to the rocks where she was hiding. A flashing light rested on the rock, a tester before the battle. Slade just **_had_** to pick Raven's spot…

_Im coming in_

_NO_

The laconic response seemed to carry Raven's demanding tone as Robin forced himself to sit still.

The beeping picked up, faster and faster till it was just a whine. Raven curled up into a ball and a small shield came up around her just as the bomb exploded.

Rocks and dirt flew everywhere. Robin tore his eyes away from the scene and huddled in a corner as the rocks pelted his back. He was about to turn around when Slade shouted in anger. Robin turned his head to see if Raven had been discovered. A smoking ring was around Raven's curled up form, but that's not what Slade saw. Some of the rock had hit one of the hundreds of bombs in the ground. And it was beeping. "Way to go Slade…" Robin muttered under his breath.

Slade and his minions' backs were turned from him as they ran from the beeping field. Robin poked half of his body out of the hole and beckoned to Raven's sitting for. She looked at him through dazed eyes before shakily standing and running to him, carefully avoiding the many mines below her. She was almost three-fourths of the way there when the beeping quickened.

The first one exploded just as Robin pulled the semiconscious girl into the cave. Dirt flew into the air and flooded the crevice as the other bombs detonated in a chain reaction. Robin held Raven against his chest while his back shielded the pair from the explosives. The blasts finally stopped and the ground ceased to tremble. The smell of gunpowder filled the still air and dust settled over the land. Robin stuck his head out of the crevice and looked around. The ground was a mess. Shards of metal, burnt gunpowder, rock, and upturned dirt littered the once lush ground. Some trees were upturned in the ground closest to the clearing. He saw Starfire come up from behind a grouping of rocks that seemed unaffected save the layer of dirt on them. Beast Boy stayed hidden. For once, he was the smarter of them. Slade and his cronies had only run to the top of the cliff to watch the scene of detonations below them. He had watched the explosions, but unfortunately had seen him and Starfire come out of hiding as well.

Robin watched Slade pull out a radio. The ground shook a bit under him and Slade's group on the hill began a slow descent back down to the once peaceful clearing. To the right, the formerly concealed robots began a march back to the clearing. The four titans were trapped between the wall of bots and Slade. Not the best place to be…

_To be continued…_

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Aight ya'll I just wanted to post this first installment to get people's reactions to the story. Part II will come within the next three weeks hopefully. I have the outline all planned out, kind of, but I haven't started writing it hehe. and my friend bobalina (woot) doesn't have a daily free period so it wont get reviewed that fast either hehe. please review it makes me happy and when im happy about reviews I write faster. And then u get the next chapter faster. Mwahaha. Review please! Till next time, AA


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